Monday, November 1, 2010

I've been bogged down with end-of-the-semester-itis + I have to study for finals.

In studying for genetics I was faced with this question, that I thought was amusing:

6. The Minister of Finance, Bill English, is seeking to clone the gene for a novelprotein called diptin, which has recently been discovered as a major componentof the eggs of a new species of butterfl y, Taxpayer subsidii, found fl ying wild inhis historic family residence in the wilds of Southland. The diptin protein causesthose who consume it to lose all interest in investing the property market and tosave all their spare cash in long-term deposits. Mr English wishes to express largequantities of the protein in transgenic plants so that Dr Bollard can put it in thewater supplies of key suburbs in the wealthy regions of Auckland and Wellington.You are told that diptin protein binds tightly to another protein called perkin,which has been purifi ed from fi lters in the air conditioning units of the beehive. Agood way to clone the diptin gene would be to:1. Construct a genomic library from Taxpayer subsidii and screen the libraryby colony hybridization using an oligonucleotide designed from the knownprotein sequence of perkin.2. Construct a cDNA library from mRNA isolated from eggs of Taxpayersubsidii, and screen the library by colony hybridization using the gene forperkin as a probe.3. Purify the diptin protein using a perkin column, sequence the protein anddesign an oligonucleotide probe, and use the probe in a Southern blotagainst genomic DNA isolated from Taxpayer subsidii4. Construct a cDNA expression library from mRNA isolated from eggs ofTaxpayer subsidii, and screen it using antibodies prepared against perkin.5. Purify the diptin protein using a perkin column, inject the purifi ed proteininto rabbits to produce antibodies, and use these to screen a cDNAexpression library made from mRNA isolated from eggs of Taxpayersubsidii.

..just goes to show that professors can, and will, in fact make questions out of anything haha